The Death Of A Fairy
by HoldOnToYourTunaCans
Summary: Set about a year after OoT. I just had an idea the other night: What if Navi died? This is the result. I drew a FanArt for it but I don't think I can attach it to the story...


Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda, nor do I wish I did. I only like playing the games.

"Navi?" Link spoke aloud as he walked across Hyrule Field. To anyone else it would have looked like the boy was talking to no one. There came a gentle ting from inside his hat and he could feel just a hint of fairy dust landing in his hair.

"You ok?" But there was no reason to ask; he knew the answer already. Another gentle tinging noise came from under his hat, a little muffled this time.

A few seconds later he reached the river and knelt for a sip of water. After a minute he removed his hat and gently lifted the fairy out of his golden hair, then returned the green accessory to its rightful place. Carefully handling the delicate creature in his hands, he asked softly, "Would you like some water?"

Navi rose slowly and floated a few feet away, dipped into the flowing river slightly and returned a little unsteadily.

"Link," she said thoughtfully, "I'm not ok."

He sighed. He'd known it was going to come to this. For the longest time there was a sneaking suspicion in the corners of his mind saying one of these battles was going to be too much for her. There was only so much a fairy could take. They were gentle creatures and not built for much more than flying. There was no way she could go through every battle with him and not get hurt. She was always in his hat! If he got knocked around or thrown across a room, she did too.

"Is there anything you'd like?" He was feeling worse and worse with every passing moment, barely staying strong enough to look at her. How could he have let this happen? Of course, it was his fault. Even though she was his guardian, she was his responsibility. She had to keep him out of danger, or at least tell him how to overcome danger and help him through his journey, and in return he had to protect her. Simple as that.

"To see the Great Deku Tree."

"Navi, you know we can't do that. He died years ago. The Deku Scrub has barely even started to grow."

An image flashed across his mind as he spoke the words. The Great Deku Tree turned grey before his eyes, the sap drying where it stood. Navi had been a little off for a few days following the incident. He hadn't known her for very long yet so he assumed it was normal behavior for her. Up to that point all he'd known was the Great Deku Tree had sent him a bossy fairy that made him get out of bed too early and then summoned him to fight an evil curse from his body.

Since then, of course, Link and Navi had learned to understand each other and eventually he'd come to see the glowing ball of light as part of himself. He never imagined the day when they would be separated.

"Do you remember that time we got stuck in Gerudo Fortress?"

Link put his thoughts aside and turned his attention to the fairy in his hands. "Yeah, why?" he asked.

"It was fun. We don't get to sneak around very often," she said. "It was fun…"

Another image flashed across his mind, this one of Ganon and how he'd wreaked chaos over the country. Why did all things evil in Hyrule always lead back to him? To have that much evil stored in one man made one wonder if he wasn't the devil himself.

"Navi, do you remember the day we met?"

It was now apparent that she was becoming weaker. She was just barely hovering in his hands and the soft orb of light emitted from her body was beginning to fade. She ting-ed slightly in response. It was a happy but sad sound. That of a satisfied but fading fairy.

Link gave a little half smile, "I was so happy to have finally been joined with a fairy. Before that, I couldn't figure out why everyone had a fairy and I didn't. When the Great Deku Tree explained it to me, finally it all made sense. And I'm glad… I'm happy I got _you_."

The light around her shone brighter for a second as she clumsily hovered a few inches over his hands, bumped the tip of his nose lightly as if to kiss it and stopped about a foot in front of his face. "I'll miss you Link." She hovered there for a few more seconds before her light dissipated and she floated slowly to his palms, the magic draining out of her as if in slow motion.

"I'll miss you too, Navi," he said to nothing in particular, unable to bring himself to look at the limp, grey form lying in his hands. The wind blew, whistling through his hair, bringing attention to a very cold streak running down his cheek. He stood and began to walk toward Kokiri Forest in the sun's heat. That would be her resting place. He'd made plans long ago, that if anything ever happened to her, he'd bury her in the clearing next to the Great Deku Tree unless she asked otherwise.

The clouds overhead passed by and time elapsed like it did every day. Some things would never change. Time would always pass, and the world would always go on, never stopping, never bothering to acknowledge the death of a fairy.


End file.
